Mass Defect: Shepard
by AzardBrazul
Summary: What would have happened if Shepard was dishonorably discharged shortly after Torfan? What If he took over Terra Firma and Cerberus? Read to find out. Intelligent!Renegade!Biotic!male Shepard. Start!of!Darkness
1. Diamonds And Rust

**Final Disclaimer For Whole Story - I DO NOT OWN MASS EFFECT. BIOWARE DOES**

Chapter 1 - Diamonds And Rust

The boy watched as they loaded his people into the huge spaceships that came raining down from the sky. The monsters. The four eyed demons. He watched from under the bed as they shot his father. He watched from the downstairs window when they stabbed and raped the first girl he had kissed. He watched as they violated his mother who had come home on leave from the alliance. he watched as they cut off her ring finger just to keep tally. He watched as his life burned around him.

...

The embassy room was quite clean and uncluttered. The artificial sunlight bouncing off its shiny sterile white walls. Several vibrant landscape paintings hung from them, mostly of various places of the citadel, most notably the presidium.

Staff Commander Jack Shepard stared out of the only window. The artificial sunlight really did wonders to the presidium streets. very unlike the streets of new York, Shepard liked it. Everything seemed happy and bright here. He would very much like to retire to a place like this.

The pearl white door cracked open to reveal a tired looking woman in alliance uniform. she roughly bunched up her graying hair into a ponytail as she edged the door open and slipped in. noticing Shepard her face brightened up. She silently joined him and stared out of the window.

"Everything seems so bright, happy and quiet here... I wish everywhere was like this." his voice was almost a whisper. as if he was afraid of breaking the spell if he spoke too loud.

The woman smiled

"What have I always told you Jack? Don't ever judge a book with it's cover"

"That's what this is" She gestured towards the window " that's how the council wants to see this place as..."

Shepard snorted at the mention of the council.

"Well... well... well, what have we got here? another council hater?" the woman smirked

"Please! Those idiots wouldn't know a problem even if it bit them in the..."

"But you have to agree that they're good at keeping the peace" she headed him off.

"And ignore everything else in the process... and everyone"

Silence prevailed for a moment as the woman threw a concerned look in Shepard's direction.

"You do know what they're calling you now don't you?" She looked worried.

"The butcher of Torfan... I"

silence stretched on like a sunbathed horizon.

"I know." He grunted finally

"They found the cave full of burned Batarians you know. It was all over the news, It wasn't easy for the Alliance to downplay that, I should know."

Shepard's jaw set in a rigid line

"They say that they had found every male, female and even juvenile Batarian inside. Shot in the head each one of them. and then burned... children! Jesus Christ!"

"You remember what they did to us don't you?" Shepard's shoulders were shaking "What they did to you?" His voice trembled as he grabbed her hand and stared at the place where her ring finger should have been "To dad?" He spluttered as he looked up to stare her in the eyes the tear tracks on his cheeks shining in the reflected light "The Alliance should annihilate those slaver bastards!" He spat the last words out as if he was unleashing a great evil upon the world.

The woman slid her left hand around Shepard's shoulders and pulled him into a half hug.

"I know son, but is it right to judge the many by the one that wronged us?" Her voice trembled ever so slightly

"I can judge the slavers though." He bit out "I can be judge, jury and Executioner"

The woman stared at their reflection.

"All that hate is going to get you killed someday." It was a statement of fact.

She reached out and wiped the tear tracks on his cheeks "You shouldn't become the monster you're trying to kill!"

Shepard looked away, staring at the faraway Krogan statue, but his mother knew that he only wanted to hide fresh tears.

"My son... all grown up, Your father would have been so proud" She whispered setting her head on his shoulder.

"I miss him mom" he croaked

"I know baby, I know. I miss him too." she said smoothing his hair "I miss him too.."

The door opened and a dark skinned middle aged man in alliance slacks strode in.

"Hannah!, I had no Idea you were..." he faltered noticing the other person in the room "...back in the citadel"

Both mother and son turned to look at who it was, and Captain Anderson was struck by the similarities, that distinctly rigid jaw, that distinct tapered eyebrow, and those piercing green eyes that haunted him every night...

The younger Shepard immediately snapped to attention and saluted while his mother looked on with amusement.

"At ease" Anderson couldn't help but smile at the young man. He was so full of energy... of life

"Son... This is Captain Anderson he's the captain of the SSV Romania" His mother introduced him with a smile.

"Of the fifth fleet" Anderson provided extending his right hand.

"Anderson, this is my son, Jack" her smile was possibly even brighter.

"A honor to meet you sir" Shepard couldn't believe his luck, Anderson was a legend among the alliance marines.

"No No, the honor is all mine son, it's not always that you get to meet the Butcher of Torfan..."

Shepard froze his face wiped of all emotion. This just could not be good.

Anderson couldn't help it. he barked an amused laugh at Shepard. Don't worry son, you're a damn hero in my books, however you played the final act.

Shepard couldn't help but smile with this man. his mood was infectious.

"And you're reporting for duty on The Romania next week."

"Thank you si... wait! What?"

"You heard me son. However I feel about it, the council thinks you're a bloody terrorist after they saw the report that Al Jalani woman aired about there being a cave full of burned batarians." His voice was stern now.

"So, short of Executing you... which mind you they were stonewalled by the alliance for suggesting... they've decided to send you to what they think is the worst possible place to serve. They've pushed since last week son, and something's got to give."

"Sir, honestly I don't think the Romania is the absolute worst place to serve."

"That's kind of you to say son. It just stands to show that the council thinks that we humans are just shoddy upstarts they can dismiss. And it's up to soldiers like you to prove them wrong"

"Specially that Turian bastard!" Shepard grumbled and they all burst out laughing.

...

Shepard was slouched in a seat, the flashing lights at flux rendering him in dark purple to onlookers. The Butcher of Torfan. That was all he was to the general public. A racist Xenophobic maniac that should be avoided at all costs. He wondered if he should join Terra Firma just for the media shitstorm. An unwilling smile graced his lips at that thought.

It had been four months since he was transferred to The Romania and that hadn't changed anything. for every Batarian he had killed the media had painted him that bit more unhinged until five months now, after Torfan it was cemented that he was a rising star in the eyes of the Alliance and a Maniac in the public eye. So there he sat there alone at flux with three days of shore leave, deep in the citadel wards.

Just a few tables away a group of marines were laughing raucously, surely drunk. They were singing the Alliance anthem at the top of their lungs, smiles plastered on their faces, there was even a cripple among them. a huge grin on his unkempt face, raising his beer above his head calling for a toast. Probably their pilot. He looked happy. So why was Shepard feeling so jealous?

Shepard smiled wryly as he sipped his own drink. This was why people like him did their jobs, so that nameless, helpless, faceless people could be happy. And people like Shepard could feel jealous of them, oh the irony!

Shepard grinned as the scotch did its job. He was drunk.

The group of marines started to get ready to leave and were in the process of electing who should run up the tab. when the pilot volunteered. As he wheeled himself to the bar his friends filed out of the club. yelling "oorah" as they passed the swinging double doors.

And then out of nowhere. It all came falling down.

Two Batarians walked up to the pilot and started to laugh at him,

"Where's your pussy Alliance now?" one yelled pushing his wheelchair

"Oops... guess my hand slipped motherfucker" the other Batarian intoned in his gravelly voice as he emptied his glass on the pilot's face. "Hey!" he called to his friend. "He pissed himself!" Both of them burst out laughing.

The pilot froze, paralyzed, probably in fear. Everyone just stared at them vandalizing the defenseless boy, afraid to intervene, afraid to lend a helping hand. Afraid to change the way things WERE

Another four slouching around a table in the corner piped up "Hey! wheel the Alliance pussy here Avos, maybe we can teach the fucker to fly." Avos grabbed the wheelchair's handles and started to push him when Suddenly something collided with his face and he keeled over spitting blood.

His friend pulled out a knife and stared around, another something just missed his head by millimeters. It was a chair! And it was fucking flying! It flew into the bar like a wrecking ball shattering everything in its path. Silence reigned

"YOU BASTARDS!" Shepard yelled as he grabbed a nearby bottle of brandy and smashed it into the remaining Batarian's upper eyes with all the force he could muster. His knife clattered to the floor as he keeled over, bleeding like a pig.

Shepard was remotely aware of people screaming by now, screaming for C-Sec probably. Good! that meant the pilot was out of harm's way.

"YOU BASTARDS" he yelled as the other four assaulted him from all sides, brandishing the broken glass handle, stabbing the nearest one in the stomach he kicked him over the bar and yelled again.

"YOU BAST..."

the world went blurry as one of them hit him hard in the back of his neck, probably with a bottle by the sound of it, and he fell to his knees. Four hands grabbed him and held him against the glass wall that overlooked the wards. The remaining Batarian hit his legs with what he at that moment thought was a golf club. Shepard could hear his kneecaps shatter and his legs twist in odd angles. Then he missed and hit the glass instead. as it shattered four hands roughly let go.

For a second Shepard thought that it was all going to be okay, his legs would heal and everything would be okay. Then one of the fuckers stabbed him in the chest. and as a searing pain blossomed Shepard tumbled through the shattered glass wall into the traffic below.

only one sentence was in his mind "you fucking bastards!"

...

Councilor Serinya was having the time of her life. A wide smile was plastered on her face, as she was zipped through the skyline at almost 160kmh in the new hoodless speeder she had bought. This was so exhilarating!

And then HE came into her life. HE literally fell from the sky. Right into her backseat.


	2. The Coldest Heart

Chapter 2 - The Coldest Heart

The boy cried out for his father, all alone in the dark, kneeling over his mothers broken body. The sky outside had faded from a bright cerulean blue into a dark ochre, painted with the blood of the innocents that had died that day, and still, no one came to help.

He was alone.

the monsters had left, but where was the alliance? where was the council? the boy sniffed and looked at his mother, she was stirring, her eyes opening. maybe it was the loss of daylight, maybe the howling of the bitter wind outside, or maybe it was the steady stream of tears that were pitter-pattering onto her face. seeing him hunched over her, crying. she did the only thing she could do. whispered that it was okay, it was all going to be okay.

And there in the darkness they both cried.

* * *

><p>Staff Commander Jack Shepard felt like he'd hit a bus with nothing but his boxers on. his whole body was numb from pain, and he felt like his head was going to explode. even his eyelids were too heavy for him to open. The only thing he could feel under his broken back was a soft mattress... wait! a soft mattress?<p>

His eyelids flew open as the memories of the past few hours flew back in a rush of adrenalin. Hospital lights burned his eyesight even as he hurriedly squeezed them shut again. . He was in a sterilized white room, he could say by the burning smell of the antiseptic all sorts of medical contraptions hummed and beeped around him he prayed to the gods he didn't believe in that the beeping was from a heart rate monitor and not a bomb.

"Staff Commander Shepard, It's a honor to finally meet you." a strangely melodious female voice spoke from where he presumed was a door.

cracking open his eyes he could make out the shape of an Asari smiling at him. "Who are YOU" He coughed violently

The Asari's smile faltered for a heartbeat, enough time for Shepard to notice. He surveyed his surroundings, trying to zero onto an escape route. He was disappointed, except the door behind the Asari the sterile white room his gurney was in was clean.

"I am councilor Serinya Tevos" The statement had a cold edge to it.

Shepard's narrowed eyes snapped to hers, pupils dilating in shock, he fumbled to try to get into an upright position but apparently two of his ribs had skewered his insides. He grunted in pain as his whole body cramped. He thrashed his feet as yell after yell tumbled out.

* * *

><p>Councilor Serinya Tevos strained to hold Shepard onto the gurney as he thrashed in pain.<p>

"Aria, tell them to go through with the procedure, tell them that I'll pay the bills. ARIA?" A flushed purple Asari walked in with two human men, doctors, judging by the way they were dressed, regulation white lab coats. They took hold of Shepard And held him down while a third, a woman, walked in with a suitcase. As if it was normal as rain, she opened her suitcase and pulled out a tranquilizer. Shepard started to whimper when he caught sight of the needle, but the woman didn't even bat an eyelid, casual as you will she stabbed the tranquilizer into Shepard's chest and watched the IV display as his heart rate dropped.

With a few jerks and groans Shepard lay calm again. He could have been sleeping.

The woman turned and looked pointedly at the councilor.

"Miss Lawson."

"Councillor"

Silence reigned.

* * *

><p>Councillor Serinya sat alone in the Asari council chamber. She was tapping feverishly on her datapad, in a rush to get her anti-Asari discrimination policy passed. But even now her mind was far, far away. It had been two weeks since she had handed Shepard off to Cerberus. With his heart failing and his spine and limbs broken in several places, the procedure Miss Lawson had proposed had been his only chance.<p>

She had been mildly surprised when she'd found out that Cerberus had been keeping tabs on Shepard since the Torfan incident. She had been disgusted, nauseous for days after she saw the images of those burned Batarian slavers, the picture of Shepard smiling in content at their mention by Al Jalani burned in the back of her mind. And as per Asari custom she'd pushed for Shepard's immediate execution.

It hadn't worked. The alliance had stonewalled her and Valern, bless him, shot himself in the foot with his mouth, as per usual.

"You HUMANS are ALL RACIST BASTARDS" his voice echoed in her mind, and she smiled, briefly.

But after meeting the man, reading his record, reading all the horrors he had to go through in Mindoir... She hadn't felt that justified anymore. Surely, she was right? she had asked herself, but after seeing him on that gurney, broken and battered... his reaction when he saw the tranquilizer. Those Batarians had done a number on him. and she had understood... He was only Human.

Just like her Asari nature calling for justice, He had only responded to his human nature. And humans were ruthless when they needed to be. Hurt them and you can count the days you have left in one hand. But befriend them-

The twin doors flew open to reveal Lawson and the two doctors that had been with her... who were they? Ah yes, the one on the left was called Wilson and the other was called Trevor. Hmm... unusual names. but then human names were all unusual.

Lawson walked at the head of the group, head held high, face set in an emotionless mask, towards her desk, she held herself with... was it pride or purpose?

"Councilor Serinya" or maybe both?

"Miss Lawson" she allowed a brief twitch of her lips.

"You will be happy to know that Commander Shepard has made a full recovery." The woman even seemed smug about it.

Serinya raised her brows in surprise

"Two weeks?"

"...Was more than sufficient for the procedure to be implemented"

"And what procedure exactly have you implemented?" Her voice had a subtle edge to it, one that Lawson apparently noticed.

Lawson looked suddenly tired, her facade crumbling as if two weeks of sleepless nights were catching up to her, just as suddenly as it disappeared her executive facade returned and she regarded the councilor with cold expressionless features again, cold expressionless features with tired eyes.

councilor Serinya motioned her to have a seat. Lawson looked around with a thoughtful expression and sighed at Councilor Tevos's inquisitive eyebrow.

"There were extensive corrections to his circulatory system."

"In what sense?" Serinya was intrigued

"We introduced several self aware Nainites into his bloodstream, they should feed off his blood and rebuild any harmed tissue"

"How many?"

"Two Billion"

Serinya's brows could have fallen off, her mind racing she spoke fast.

"But at that rate considering localization he would heal at almost real time! He could well be..."

"...Immortal? We know, that was one of the favorable side results...well at least in theory." Lawson briefly looked unsure, but that too was gone in a blink of an eye.

"Favorable? there are unfavorable results?" Serinya wondered if she had inadvertently created an immortal monster, goddess save her if she had.

Lawson took a second to gather herself, as if the same thought was running through her head.

"For starters, he will have to consume an Iridium solution thrice a week, or risk his blood supply growing toxic ." She paused to slide a datapad over the table." Make sure he gets that recipe. "

Serinya gazed at the datapad. It contained a mixture of iridium, small amounts of solid eezo and alcohol. she couldn't help her shoulders relax with relief. A controllable immortal monster then. Thank the goddess.

"And the Nainites have effectively cut off meiosis rendering him sterile..."

Serinya's eyebrows raised again

"...in physical reproduction." She paused letting the fact sink in. "The rest is purely cosmetic." Well, at least he won't be running around making junior monsters. She felt relieved... more than she had in a long time, but she felt she should say something more.

"I believe I asked you to heal him out of a sense of duty, because I found him, I did NOT ask you to create an Immortal Xenophobe.'

Miranda's eyebrows flew up at Serinya's tone.

"I did not ask you to get me kicked out of the council when this gets out and manufactures another political shitstorm that seems to pop up when that man and aliens are in the same headline. I mean, fixing his bones is one thing but..."

"He was dead."

Silence

"I'm sorry, What?" Serinya bit out in a whisper too stunned to raise her voice.

"He died before we got him to the medical station." Lawson paused so that Serinya would fully understand the situation. "The Nainites were a last ditch attempt at reviving him. They sparked his neural currents."

Serinya was at a loss for words, so she did the only thing she could do, she stared at Lawson as if she had grown a second head.

"His biotics and intelligence test results have been off the charts." Lawson paused " Frankly, I'm not surprised. He's practically a machine now. his brain functions like one. A machine with emotions."

Something clicked in the depths of Serinya's mind. Something from Shepard's files that proved that this woman was lying to her.

"But Shepard isn't a biotic. He has no implant"

"We know"

Serinya was yet again struck dumb yet again.

"He also seems to be able to meld rudimentarily with humans" Lawson paused again "We believe that it has since then proceeded to evolve as he got a handle on his biotics"

This was too much for Serinya, she had helped create an Immortal, super intelligent, natively biotic xenophobe who possibly had more in common with the geth. why had she given him to Cerberus? She should have expected this to happen. Well the only thing she could do now was pack her things and hope the council didn't execute her.

"I believe I owe you a large amount of credits?" She sighed as she slipped her hands up to cover her face.

"You don't owe US a credit councilor, Cerberus has had a vested interest in the Commander since Torfan. And it is our obligation to help humanity, maybe with this procedure we may have finally found the cure to cancer, and brain death."

Serinya scoffed.

"Where is he now?"

"Shepard? First thing since we docked he went to see his mother."

"You left him alone?"

"He is perfectly able to communicate with his mother councilor, and we have a guard tracking him."

With a groan Serinya buried her face in her hands. She was _definitely_ going to be hunted by a justicar for this.


	3. Come Undone, Under the Light of the Sun

Chapter 3 - Come Undone, Under the Light of the Sun

The boy stood in the middle of the road staring at the huge red orb that was rising from the eastern horizon. his eyes were puffy and bloodshot, tears dribbling from the corners. He was dressed in dark blue jeans and the brown parka that he wore to school everyday... had worn. Around him mangled bodies of the useless lay in pools of their bodily fluids. his hands were clenched into fists, nails marking his palm forever as they cut deep, and as blood started to seep from his palm, he swore.

They would pay.

They would hurt like him, he would see to it.

They would break, they would cry, they would scream.

And as a grim smile twisted itself on the boy's face as he stood there, in the middle of so much death, a solitary figure standing under the imperious red sun, he swore.

They would all die.

* * *

><p>Hannah Shepard screamed as her hands scrabbled at the expensive plaster wall, her nails were bloody and broken, yet she kept attacking the wall, kept screaming, crying out in anguish, she was breaking apart, the stress, the pain and the heartbreak of the council's admission completely devouring any semblance of control that she possessed.<p>

Her son had been declared dead.

She didn't even notice the hands that grabbed her, pulling her into a comforting embrace from behind. She just screamed. the person who had grabbed her was whispering something, something that seemed to snuff out the fire in her heart. she crumpled into the firm embrace and sobbed.

* * *

><p>David Anderson was worried. It spoke volumes that the man had been frowning for the length of the past week. David Anderson never frowned. Ever. Even now as he sat in the back seat of a taxi taking him to the docking bays, he could not shake the image of Hannah crying in his arms. <em>Hannah<em>... _when had she become just Hannah to me_? _Never mind. It didn't matter, at least not right now_. What mattered was that she hadn't shown up for her deployment briefings, and by the looks of it she wouldn't show up today for her new assignment to the SSV Orizaba.

He sighed and activating his Omni-tool, snapped in her contact IP. _That woman is going to be the death of me! _The familiar ringing of her VoIP greeted him. _Pick up! Pick up Hannah!_ The tone died, and an emotionless electronic voice asked whether he would like to redial. Anderson cursed. That was the fifth call she hadn't answered in the last week. _Damn me if I am to get in the middle of this!_ He redialed and, after a few minutes, was met with the same emotionless tone. _I am to get in the middle of this aren't I?_ He sighed again, and making up his mind, rapped on the divider to give the pilot new directions.

* * *

><p>Water sprouted from the showerhead in thin long sprays, tumbling over her hair and tickling her neck like butterfly feathers. She lay sprawled in the meager tub that was in her meager apartment. Tears mixed with the water and trickled down her face like little snakes. She felt wrung out, pulled thin, like butter, spread over too much bread. Ever since Jack had... since Jack had... Jack.<p>

She dissolved into a fresh round of tears, sobbing into the tiled wall. What had she _ever _done to deserve this? Her life... Her husband... and now her little boy. "_Oh, Jack!_"She sobbed, dragging long, drawn-out breaths.

Something moved outside.

She slowly stopped sobbing, her eyes widening. _Oh come on! Someone's robbing me? Now?_ Something crashed to the floor, a vase probably. Captain Hannah Shepard scrambled out of the tub and took cover behind the wall, next to the door. With trembling hands, she wrapped a towel around herself, grabbing the pistol she'd left in the sink, and slowly pulled the door open.

Aiming in front of her, she surveyed her living area. A potted plant lay in front of her, broken, dirt pooling around it.

Someone coughed.

With a start she squeezed off a shot, shattering the huge glass pane she had for a left wall. The artificial citadel wind howled inside like a pack of rabid wolves, and then she saw him.

He stood there, his back to her, staring out, through the now shattered glass, at the citadel tower. Dressed in what seemed to be a dark Armani suit, the wind whipping at his unbuttoned coat. Red scars ran, snaking through his hair, down his neck and vanishing under his collar. With a start, she noticed that they glowed! C_ybernetics, that was it! _The man gave no acknowledgement of her.

Pointing the pistol at him, she activated her Omni-tool, and input David's IP when the man spoke.

"Everything seems so bright, happy and quiet here... I wish everywhere were like this."

Hannah gasped, pistol falling slack to her side, Her Omni-tool beeped and Anderson's voice filled the small room. "Hannah? Where are you? At home? Hannah? Talk to me." He sounded frantic, his voice cracking, almost as if he _cared_ "David?" She croaked. Anderson hissed out a breath he had seemed to be holding. Stay right there Hannah. I'll be there in a few minutes." The Omni-tool beeped and fell silent.

_"Hannah?"_ It was a simple word, framed as a question, saying volumes, like only he could... Jack!

"Jack?"

He stood there, staring for one final moment, at the citadel tower, as if he were afraid to look away, lest it disappear, and then he turned round, and the breath left Hannah Shepard's chest. She stood there staring at him, for seconds that seemed like hours. He _was_ Jack, yet at the same moment, he _was not._ His handsome face was almost exactly the same, save for another crimson scar that wound round the right side of his face, snaking down to his collarbone. Then she saw his eyes. Pinpoints of red light stared back at her where his Iris' should have been, looking closer, she noticed that the light in fact, came from within his eyes.

"Hannah Shepard..." He spoke as if tasting the words, "...Captain of the SSV Orizaba, and my _mother." _His face showed no emotion, voice monotone, almost as if he didn't know how.

"Jack?" She was quickly getting over her shock, and the panic was setting into her. _Why did he look like this? was this even her son? Was this a clone? Who or what was he?_

"I am not a clone." She started. It was as if he had read her mind.

"I have all my memories. I simply do not have any attachment to them, they simply _are. _Like a slideshow playing in the back of my mind." He sighed, "I suppose that makes me..." He drifted off. "I just feel this constriction in the pit of my stomach when I look at you. I don't understand it."

Hannah sighed in relief, whatever he was, he wasn't hostile... at least not yet. She walked up to him and threw her arms around him. She couldn't help herself. He was so stiff, beneath her, like a straining shelf, ready to break.

"What happened to you?" She mumbled into his coat.

"I died." He uttered it as if noting the weather.

Hannah stumbled back, "But... You? You're here!" She muttered, stumbling over her own words in shock.

"Cerberus revived me."

"Cerberus? Why would the-" She was cut off at the loud banging on her door. "Hannah? Hannah? Are you all right? Hannah?" it was David.

"You _must_ listen." Jack grabbed her by her shoulders and stared into her eyes, his red eyes hauntingly soothing. "You must not search for me. _mother_. You must not look. It would not be advisable with your current employer."

He stiffly wrapped his hands around her in a mockery of an embrace, as if, again, he did not know how. And then, as the door started to beep, signaling that someone was hacking it, he drew away, turned round and ran. Leaping out of the broken glass wall.

"NO!" Hannah screamed. They were thirty one floors above the Presidium streets, and _Jack had jumped out!_

Hannah Shepard ran, mind incoherent, to the edge and looked down almost slipping off. As David came behind her, pulling her back, into his arms, into safety, a Cerberus speeder whipped up from below, zipping into the artificial horizon.

* * *

><p>The light of the dying star Anadius bathed the Cronos station in warm gold. The Illusive man sat, his head tilted to the left, staring out at Anadius. The filters in the meter thick threaded plastic wall ensured that he did not go blind, well at least not totally.<p>

He was waiting.

The double doors on the opposite side of the room slid open to reveal Lawson. She strode in, leading another man in with her. The Illusive man's brows rose.

"Illusive man" Lawson uttered respectfully. The newcomer just stared at him, through unfeeling, uncaring red eyes, somewhat like his own. The illusive man was impressed.

"This must be Shepard." He looked at Lawson for confirmation as he drew a drag from his cigarette, she nodded. "Yes sir."

The illusive man smiled and put a hand on Shepard's shoulder, "I expect a lot from you, son."

Shepard only stared back with cold, empty, calculating eyes**.**

* * *

><p><strong>Well I'm back! Been a tough few days, with RetakeME being cancelled and a drawn out fever. I hope you guys enjoy this, I will be back to regular updates soon. Oh, and kudos to all those who noticed the LotR easter egg!<strong> **And don't forget to check out my new ME3 Ending one shot: Time Bomb that I'm uploading on Tuesday**


	4. Villains By Necessity

Chapter 4 - Villains by necessity

_The man stared out at the dying sun, suspended in space so far away. Yet to him, it seemed only a few feet. He sat there, with glass of Skillian brandy, musing on what had happened, in these short years, to him and those around him. He mused on authority and relativity. He mused on the futility of it all. He was frowning._

_The double doors behind him swished open and the man turned, his face lighting up and a firm smile forming on his handsome features as he observed the woman who strode in. He quickly drained the contents of the glass he had been holding, before standing up to meet her._

_"Ms Lawson, I firmly remember summoning you for a distinctly earlier appointment." His voice carried a mock serious tone, the smile still lighting up his face. "Or are you under the impression that I have no other business to attend to than entertaining you whenever you feel like it?, be sure of it Ms Lawson I am indeed, a very busy man."_

_The woman didn't falter, striding up to the man and acquiescing him as he pulled her into an embrace. They stood there, the golden light of the dying sun dancing on her raven locks as she kissed him, her ravenous fervor for him almost feral, her hands forming claws on his back, in sharp contrast to his gentle ones massaging her scalp, deeply intertwined in her hair._

_They broke apart at the same time, gasping for air, pulling each other even closer. He rested his forehead on hers, his grin ever widening at her shallow panting. "I missed you" he whispered, tracing the lines of her pronounced cheekbones with his lips "And, in that circumstance, being late is inexcusable." he whispered into her neck._

_Whimpering, she pulled him up for another searing kiss, her hands raking his short hair, as his settled firmly on her waist, pulling her even harder against him. When they broke apart, she kissed his sharp jaw line, finally settling at his ear and whispering huskily, "I'm sure you can make an exception for me Director Shepard."_

* * *

><p>A bright, radioactive sun beat down hard on Palaven. The impervious homeworld of the Turians. A land of contradictions. Lengths of metallic rock spanning as far as the eye could see, surrounded the silver city. Cipritine, the heart of Palaven rose gracefully out of the decadent rock, it's tallest towers, shining silver points glinting in the rough sunlight, belied their inherently angular architecture. Cipritine like Palaven was a hard, metallic domain that was habitually unwelcoming to strangers as well as the clanless.<p>

Garrus Vakarian stood on one of the city's high silver walls, twice as long as he was tall, staring out at the vast, lifeless expanse spread before him. The Cipritine Waste. The howling wind tugged and pulled at the coolant imbued robe he wore, it's lapels billowed in front of him, grappling with the wind. With a huff, he pulled them together, over the fringe on his bare chest, around him. The slight throbbing chill it provided, was comforting against the unrelenting bear of the sun. He felt oddly content, here standing on the brink. Cipritine, was all he had ever known. That and the fact that he _must_ serve the hierarchy in some capacity. _Screw that! The sun would freeze over before he gave up his freedom_, if he had any say about it.

A throaty cough drew his attention to the left. His mother, Kendra Vakarian, was staring at him with amused eyes. _Damn, I must have said that last bit aloud! _He gave her a tentative smile and she burst into laughter. Peal upon peal cascaded, echoing down the wall, and Garrus's cheeks grew warm. The Palaven Security officers, on the stairways below, would surely love to throw them over the wall, given the way they were staring up at them. But as usual, not a word was said to Arvenius Vakarian's brood. To do so, to accuse or even _consider_ accusing someone (_or their brood_), so higher up the hierarchy was unheard of, and on Cipritine, were grounds for immediate expulsion and sometimes, even execution.

Solana Vakarian, his sister stood to the right of him, her claws clenched over the impervious silver-alloy rails driven into the thick wall, the dark scales on her wrist and hand popping out at her exertion. She leveled a disapproving look at them both, before staring out again, at the Cipritine Waste as it spread before them. Her brown eyes glinting with worry.

"Father will be soon here, little brother. Do not let him hear you utter words as such." She admonished, still staring out at the Waste.

"Father doesn't care what I do as long as I serve the hierarchy. I do not want to be part of Palaven Security, or sit behind a desk on the Citadel." He retorted, while regarding the Waste with unfocused gray eyes.

"You fool yourself with your delusions of gallivanting round the galaxy, playing Spectre and having ten Asari dangling in your arms. You are, what you are little brother." She paused, to turn her head and regard him with a condescending look. "In the end, that is all that matters Garrus. At the very end, we are who we are." She was thinking, of her would be husband, Veleroth who had been arrested for treason and expulsed from Cipritine that morning. He was clanless now, and could not - would not, marry her. Yet her heart still yearned for him. That much was as plain as day. He had been a Spectre, and that alone had saved him from execution.

"Consider what your sister has told you Garrus." His mother spoke, in her usual melodic tones. Glancing, Garrus observed that she had recovered almost completely. "But consider this also. Whatever you do, do what your heart tells you." Her clawed left hand came to rest on his chest. "Otherwise, you would never be content, let alone happy, with whatever you have done." She rested her head on his shoulder, and she too, stared out at the waste.

* * *

><p>Cerberus Operative Jack Shepard stood at the open door of the transport shuttle as it lowered itself onto a Cipritine docking bay, behind him Operative Miranda Lawson gripped at the handles set into the roof, in an attempt to steady herself, as the shuttle lurched while it's kinetic barriers shut down. She bumped slightly into him, but he just stood there, as if sculpted by stone.<p>

Jack Shepard jumped off the shuttle as soon as the thrusters shut off, robe rippling, cutting a line through the predominantly Turian and Asari crowd gathered around it, Miranda Lawson followed close behind him, her robe whipping behind her, splayed by the huge gusts from landing ships and shuttles that buffeted everyone in the docking bay. She had wound her dark brown robe tightly round her, covering the insignia she so proudly wore. She felt somewhat self conscious, somewhat naked. Shepard had merely thrown a black coolant robe over his back and had been done with it. Even now, his lapels hung loose while he stared at the arriving ships as he walked briskly towards the hangar exit.

They were _huge_, and of varying model and make. Her lips parted as a huge Salarian passenger transport eased itself lethargically through the open hangar gate. Its curves further accentuating its size, the dark green paint on its alloy shell glinted and refracted the pale hangar light, dazzling rainbows leaping all over the hangar. It glided slowly to a stop on its allotted landing zone, its huge doors gliding open and the gangway lowered. Most of the crowd milling near it organized themselves into single-file and boarded the transport, while the arrivals, -Asari, Salarian, Turian and even, she noticed with a start _a Krogan_ with a scarred red fringe- filed off the shuttle in a similar manner.

She quickly shut her hanging jaw and focused on Shepard. They were nearing the hangar exit. For the life of her Miranda could not figure out, why was she awed? Yes she worked for Cerberus, and yes she had never seen a hangar so huge, or so busy. _But why did she feel so awed and excited? Was it the cavernous dark metal walls that reached almost as far as the dormitories and labs she occupied? Or was it the simple feeling that she was going against orders that made every feeling hit her tenfold?_

Shepard paused at the exit, handing their immigration cards and data chips -_fake of course_- to the female Turian officer with a winning smile. The officer flared her mandibles, smiling in her own way, and after swiping the cards, handed them to him and told them to move on. Shepard grinned, thanking her and set off down the corridor that Miranda supposed led to the Cipritine internal transport hub. Miranda smiled at the officer as she passed, but the Turian was regarding her with a frosty expression. Shepard was getting _very proficient_ at manipulating people.

This whole _mission_ had been Shepard's Idea, and Miranda supposed she should trust his logic. There was no way he was basing his decisions on emotions, _hell, she didn't know if he even felt, or recognized emotion_. The Nainites had done a complete personality wipe, while saving his memories. what remained was -however you looked at it- a newborn, with communicative and cognitive abilities, memories and no sense of self or morality, only his cold and removed logic that hadn't failed so far. She suspected he wasn't even Human anymore, simply an intelligence residing in an organic platform. Miranda was certainly intrigued, if not for him, for the scientific advances that could be achieved. But the man would not speak with her, or anyone for that matter for more than a few sentences.

With a start, she realized Shepard had stopped, with a bigger start she realized where. She had been so lost in her musing that she hadn't even noticed coming into the little pub they were in. Shepard, to her utter surprise, pulled down the hood of his robe and strode up to the counter. She saw no reason to follow his example, so she stood, a few paces away. Moments later Shepard returned, only to walk past her and sit down beside a secluded table in the back. With one hand he beckoned her, and with a sigh, Miranda Lawson joined him. _Men._

* * *

><p>Solana Vakarian threw her robe into the clothes dispenser, that resided next to her kitchen. She lived in a comely loft, infused with warm yellows and soothing blues, and soft lights. Her job at Palaven Security did not pay much, but it payed enough. With a hiss she pulled off the upper half of her uniform. The protruding brown scales on her flat chest stood out in the warm yellow light. Smiling at the feel of the artificial breeze, slithering over and between her metallic carapace caressing her back, she sighed as the scales all over her body protruded and her small fringe lifted, as if to flip a bird at the cold. Nights on Palaven were always cold, outside Cipritine more so.<p>

She stripped off the rest of her clothes, pulled off her boots and threw them all into the clothes dispenser. She walked into her kitchen, naked, swaying her wide hips, marveling at the cold breeze caressing her. Food was scarce these days. Cipritine, contrary to popular belief was not faring so well. Word had spread from the outlying farms that the Daraka were dying out, thus cutting their dextrose-meat supply in half. Many a night she'd had to contend herself with Pyrine roots, and Belos beans, but not today! She had renewed her pay rations, and had gotten something exotic today.

She pulled the platter out of the heated storage unit and set it on her dining table. Though she called it so, it was nothing more than a glorified end table, set in front of a couch with a few splayed pillows. She sat down, and stared at the nighttime skyline. Cipritine was, truly beautiful at night. Mandibles flaring, she grasped her claw-corrected utensils, and began to eat.

She laid back on the couch, a contented noise rumbling deep in her throat. Spreading her hands on the backrest, she sat there and stared out at the beautiful night-lights.

* * *

><p>Kai Leng stood behind the metal balcony railing, staring through the sniper scope at the naked Turian woman. She was Shepard's primary contact, and the Illusive man had ordered him to screw Shepard's plan six ways to Sunday, something about <em>'Impressing the chain of command on Shepard'<em>. Whatever that was, Leng didn't care. As long as he got to put that unnatural...thing a notch or two down, Leng was aboard.

Smiling at what this was going to cost Shepard, Kai Leng pulled the trigger.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong>

**Hey all I'm back! and my version of Turians is totally this: asurael-returns (dot) deviantart (dot) com/art/Female-Turian-154605246  
>Potter: Entropy will be updated on very soon. I'm working on a few chapters right now.<strong>

**And If you really didn't realize this. the first part of every Defect chapter is EITHER a Flashback or a Flashforward.**

**As always REVIEW.**


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